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HEBER CITY — A former senior adviser of Operation Underground Railroad was charged Tuesday with DUI and distributing a controlled substance after police reported finding many vials of an opioid and large amounts of cash in his car.
Radd Christian Berrett, 60, of Millcreek, was traveling west on U.S. 40 just north of Heber City on Monday when a deputy "observed the vehicle swerving" and pulled him over, according to the police booking affidavit. The deputy conducted field sobriety tests, and "determined he was unable to safely operate a motor vehicle."
After searching the vehicle, police say they found "79 individual vials of buprenorphine" — a synthetic opioid used to treat pain and opioid use disorder — along with syringes and large amounts of cash, the affidavit states. Berrett allegedly refused a chemical test at the Wasatch County Jail, but a warrant was obtained and the test was conducted.
"Radd stated that he travels back and forth from Mexico to the United States and due to the large amount of medications and loose cash, I believe that Radd is distributing these substances," police wrote in the arrest report.
Berrett was charged Tuesday with distribution or arranging to distribute a controlled substance, a third-degree felony; driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia, class B misdemeanors; and a traffic infraction for failing to stay in one lane.
Berrett was formerly a senior adviser and director of corporate affairs for Operation Underground Railroad and part of the "jump team" that conducts the organization's human trafficking stings, he said in a 2018 YouTube interview.
Berrett was introduced to Tim Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad through Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, according to an article in Orthopedics This Week. Ballard, the founder of the nonprofit, has been embroiled in multiple lawsuits alleging sexual abuse while conducting the stings.
One lawsuit, filed in October 2023 against parties connected with Operation Underground Railroad, names Berrett. The complaint calls him one of Ballard's "favorite henchmen," and alleges he threatened a plaintiff over the phone, "resulting in the police being called and a report being filed."
Berrett is scheduled to appear in the 4th District Court in Heber City on Wednesday.
